Can my boss force me to work in a smoking section?

[Elizabeth]

Can my boss force to work in a smoking section?
My job has a smoking and a non-smoking section and has been asking me to go in the smoking section and each time I've avoided it. However, there is more and more pressure to be forced into this area. I do not want second hand smoke that can cause cancer.
I live in the state of California. Does anyone know if he can force me into the smoking section? If he can legally, I will quit.

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

I would check the laws. On the one hand, it is not healthy on the other he is the boss and some people have to work that section. If you like you can tell him you will quit but you may get a bad reference if he fires you, whether it is legal ir not.

[Ngikhona]

It depends on how the business is run, probably. I can see it definitely being illegal for him to make you work there if you had a medical condition, but it's a little sketchy if you don't have one. Try contacting your local department of labor. I tried to look through the California website and there's a lot of jargon, so I'd suggest just calling.

[Moxie.]

I live in California too and I did a little research on it for you. The fact sheet that I found said this: "(B) All employees who enter the smoking area consent to permit smoking. No one, as part of his or her work responsibilities, shall be required to work in an area where smoking is permitted. An employer who is determined by the division to have used coercion to obtain consent or who has required an employee to work in the smoking area shall be subject to the penalty provisions of Section 6427."

I'm definitely going to encourage you to look at that sheet in more depth though, just in case I misinterpreted something. Hope this helped!